Any Price
by ijs1337
Summary: Cobra has a lot of nukes, issued a deadline for global surrender, and captured Scarlet, and the Joes have been ordered to stay out of it. The only question now is: how much will Snake Eyes be willing to risk to get Scarlet back?
1. Chapter 1

**Note: I'm drawing from a few sources of inspiration here. I'm pulling on the Resolute series Duke-Scarlet-Snake Eyes triangle, and the particle cannon. I do not own G.I. Joe. **

Any Price

Chapter 1

"I'm going to be honest with you, Sergeant Hauser. I don't care that one of your team got themselves captured. You and your men will remain here until further notice."

" Sir, with all due respect-"

"Don't say you respect me or my opinion, Hauser. If you respected either, you wouldn't have led your team in a strike on Cobra's base of operations. You were given explicit orders to not interfere."

"Sir, we've been going toe-to-toe with Cobra for years now-"

"Yes, but Cobra never had the ability to turn the planet into a cinder before, now did it? You clearly don't watch the news, Sergeant Hauser."

Everyone in the room, save the masked man leaning against a wall, winced at those words. Everyone remembered all too well the message Cobra had sent to the world.

It had been five days prior, when a video communications device had been launched into the back wall at the UN Summit in New York. There, Cobra Commander had delivered a message to the world. The message had been simple: "I have gone by many names in my life, but the one I am most known by is Cobra Commander. I have a proposition for you, ladies and gentlemen. You might call it an offer that you won't be able to refuse. You will surrender control of your nations, your military forces, and your citizens. Everything you control, you will surrender to me unconditionally. If you do not, I will have no choice but to forcibly remove your leaders from their seats of power, and step in to pick up the pieces. Rest assured, I am completely capable of taking control through force."

With that, the feed shifted to satellite footage of London. After a few seconds, a beam of energy shot down from the sky and obliterated the city.

"As I said. Control through force. Or I could just wipe you all out. Not with that little device, however. That'd take a bit too long for my tastes. I'd simply use these. Much more conventional."

He waved his hand, and the feed again shifted, showing hundreds of enormous missiles.

"ICBMs. Not the cheap kind, either. Understand, though, that I am not without reason, nor mercy. I will give your nations two weeks to surrender to me. Any hint of military action, and, well, I won't be held responsible for the results of such aggression."

Four days after the message had been delivered, the Joes had managed to pinpoint the source of the transmission. Nothing had gone according to plan. The nukes were not at the base, half the team received debilitating wounds during the escape, and Scarlet had been captured.

Snake Eyes took that fact particularly hard.

"Sir-"

"Save it, Hauser. We're lucky your little pre-emptive strike didn't anger Cobra Commander enough that he would decide to start playing with his couple hundred nukes. Now, you and your team will stay out of this affair until you are told otherwise. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, Sir."

"Make sure your team understands that, Sergeant. I don't want to have a report cross my desk in the morning saying that one of your team went rouge and got a country wiped off the map."

"Yes, Sir."

"Glad to know you can listen, Sergeant. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to return to Washington. The Cabinet has an emergency session planned, and it wouldn't do for the President to miss such a session at such a critical time."

"Yes, Sir."

The President walked out of the briefing room, leaving the Joes alone.

"Alright, you all heard him. We're not to get involved in this situation until we get the go-ahead from him. We're not to try and do anything about this on our own, either. Snake Eyes, I say this especially for your benefit."

Snake Eyes simply turned and walked out through the door the President had left through.

"So, does that mean he agrees?"

"Let's hope so, Flint. Honestly, I don't think we'd be able to stop him if he disagreed."

"Suppose he disagrees right now, and doesn't feel like letting us know? What do we then, Duke?"

"What's he got to disagree with us about? I know him. Not well, but I know him. Even he's not crazy enough to try anything."

"You don't think the fact that it's Scarlet won't affect his thought process?"

"Why should it?"

"You really asking that?"

"She made her choice, Flint."

"Maybe he's hoping to change her mind."

"Don't even joke about that."

"Wasn't joking."

Suddenly, every light in the room went out.

"Think that was him?"

"Who else? What do you think he hopes to accomplish? He must've thought this out. He doesn't just _do_ things."

"Oh, God."

"What, Duke?"

"He did plan this. He planned on waiting. Waiting for the right person to arrive."

"What do you mean?"

"He was waiting for the President. Or more specifically, what the President would come here in."

"The Falcon?"

"Gotta be."

"Crap. He gets in that thing, we won't be able to catch him."

"So we don't let him get into it. Stand back."

Duke threw a grenade at the door, blowing it to pieces.

"You know, you could have just tried to open it the non-explosive way."

"Now is not the time, Tunnel Rat. Everyone to the hangar, now!"

**That's all for now. Things will pick up a bit in the next chapter. Not to give it all away, but we'll have some ninja action, some hostages, some drama, and some notes.**

**Please, review and tell me what you think so far.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Welcome to the next chapter. Things are going to get a little tense. I do not own G.I. Joe.**

Any Price

Chapter 2

The Joes ran through the hallways at top speed, heading for the hangar.

"So, someone want to tell me what's so special about this Falcon thing we all think the ninja is going to steal?"

"It's a transport. Based on the hypersonic technology, but augmented. There's only one other craft like it."

"How'd POTUS get his hands on this one?"

"He's the President, Tunnel Rat."

"Just asking, Duke."

" Ask questions when we've got Snake Eyes under control."

Rounding a corner, Duke heard a click, barely audible in the sounds of half-a-dozen pairs of boots thundering down a metal hallway.

There was a burst of light and an ear-splitting bang.

"Anyone get the number of that truck that hit me?"

"That was no truck, Tunnel Rat. Those were flash bangs."

"Uh, guys. Where's Duke?"

"Come on, Mr. President, we need to get you onboard the transport, now."

"You don't have to manhandle me, Williams. I can walk just fine."

"I'm not taking chances sir. The power went out, so this facility could very well be under atta-"

A small dart struck Williams in the neck, and he dropped to the floor, unconscious.

"You. What do you want? Why did you attack my guard? Say something."

Snake Eyes responded as he always did. With silence. Followed by action. Specifically, holding the point of his sword to the President's throat.

"God, man. Do you know who I am? I'm the President of the-" he shut his mouth and took a step back as the blade slashed his necktie in two, the bottom half drooping out of its tucked position in the sport coat. "Okay. Okay. No need to do anything we both might regret, right? Just, what do you want?"

Snake Eyes pointed at the open cargo hold of the Falcon.

"That? Why do you want-"

Snake Eyes tackled him.

"What is your problem?"

Snake Eyes punched him in the jaw, knocking him out.

"That's enough, Snake Eyes. Stand down, or I'll put you down." Duke said as he stepped out of the hold of the Falcon, the barrel of his pistol still smoking, the holes burned the pulse rounds still smoldering on the wall.

Snake Eyes hurled three throwing stars at Duke, one knocking his pistol out of his hand, the second embedding itself in his right arm, the third landing in his left shoulder.

"Ah! Jesus, Snake Eyes, what's gotten into you?"

Snake Eyes just walked up the cargo ramp, held his sword to Duke's throat, and then pointed to the cockpit.

"Jesus, man."

"Why are you doing this, Snake Eyes?" Duke asked, sword at his throat, pulse Uzi at the back of his head. He was starting up the Falcon.

"Are you doing this for her? She made her choice, Snake Eyes. She's not going to-Agh!"

Duke felt a searing pain. He twisted his head, and saw the sword pushed, ever so slightly, into his back.

"Okay. You've made your point. Don't go there. You can pull that out of me now."

Duke finished starting up all the systems.

"I'm serious man. You can pull your sword out of my back-God!"

Snake Eyes twisted the blade, the edge facing the ceiling. He slowly began to raise it.

" Jesus! I'm getting up. I'm getting up."

Snake Eyes began to turn, slowly, back towards the open cargo hold. He fiddled with the controls, then pushed one the buttons. He slid the blade a further centimeter in.

"Walk. I get it."

Snake Eyes led Duke to the open ramp of the cargo hold, facing a few dozen guards, and the rest of the Joe team.

"Do not open fire unless I tell you to."

"You're not in command here, Hauser. All of you, fire as soon as you have a clear shot at him."

Suddenly, the engines of the Falcon burst to life, fire and heat flowing from them. The ship slowly lifted off the ground, while the soldiers adjusted their aim. When the craft was about twenty feet off the ground, Snake Eyes braced his foot against Duke's back.

"Don't you even dare."

Flint and Roadblock caught Duke as he fell. Snake Eyes walked calmly back into the Falcon, oblivious or uncaring to the pulse rounds whizzing around the hatch.

The hatch closed and the Falcon shot off into the sky, disappearing in seconds.

"Alert all airbases! I want that madman caught and brought down!"

"You won't catch him, Mister President. The Falcon's faster than any other transport except the Aurora, and the crew at Green Lake won't be able to scramble in time to intercept him."

"Your point, Sergeant Hauser? We could still reach him, stop him."

"I think we've all just learned we can't stop him. All we can do is scramble the Aurora and hope we can nab him off of Cobra Island before he escalates things beyond the point of no return."

"See that you do, Sergeant. This is your man, your mess. You fix it, understand?"

"Perfectly, Mister President."

"Good. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to call in Air Force One, and explain why I'll be late to that emergency session."

The President walked out of the hangar, accompanied by his guard.

"Hey Duke, there's something in your collar."

"What?" Duke pulled the small slip of paper from the back of his shirt collar.

On it were the words: 'Because no on else is willing to. Not even you.'

**So. That's Chapter 2 in the bag. Next one, Snake Eyes will bleed himself dry of the ice water in his veins, to replace it with liquid nitrogen (figuratively.) It'll be pretty much all Snake Eyes, just sneaking and killing his way into Cobra's island fortress.**

**Again, reviews and thoughts are appreciated.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Okay. Number three. Snake Eyes being Snake Eyes, except a little bit more brutal. And possibly more cool, if that is even possible. Be aware, however, that most of the Snake Eyes killing happens from the perspectives of the hapless, soon-to-be-dead guards.**

Any Price

Chapter 3

Snake Eyes got up out of the pilot seat of the Falcon. He turned, and walked toward the cargo hold. Pulling on a parachute, he pushed a button next to the hold door. The door slowly lowered.

Snake Eyes stepped to the edge. He looked down, then glanced up at the night sky. He was far enough.

He jumped off the ramp, and seemed to hang in the air for a second before he plummeted toward the sea, thousands of feet below.

Snake Eyes kept his body vertical, his head pointing straight down. He focused on the reflection of the moon in the sea below him, watching the image grow larger as he neared the surface of the water. When it seemed he was about to crash into it, he twisted and rolled in midair, then hit the water.

He felt a deep pain in his left arm, left leg, and in the small of his back. He had expected that. It probably would have been near crippling if he hadn't had the foresight to pop a few painkillers in the Falcon before he arrived at the jump point. Rotating himself in the near-total darkness, he swam up, towards the blurry, shifting sky. Breaking the surface of the water, he turned and started to swim south. Only 100 miles to the shore.

"At least we aren't stationed at some base in Siberia."

"Getting stationed anywhere that's important is a death sentence, man. You know that."

"Come on. Who's going to be stupid enough to try and attack this place? Automated defenses, radar on crack, mines along the shoreline, and we've got an army backing us up. We'll be fine."

"Yeah. Fine once we're in the ground."

"You know what, man, I'm sick and tired of your pessimistic attitude. Lighten up, pal. We'll be working for the organization that rules the world in about a week. That'll come with some benefits."

"Yeah. We'll get gold-plated coffins."

"Okay, you just… shut your-" A small knife sprouted from the back of his throat, and he dropped, gurgling, to the ground.

"Oh, shi-" Another knife embedded itself squarely in his forehead.

A cloud passed over the moon, casting the shoreline into total darkness.

When the cloud drifted away a minute later, the bodies were gone, and there was a set of footprints leading away from the water, towards the large facility surrounded by twenty-foot high walls.

"Man."

"What, you spot something, over?"

"Negative. Absolutely nothing. Except that I'm about to pass out from boredom, over."

"How do you spot that, over?"

"I don't… it's a figure of speech, man. I was speaking figuratively."

"Well, I think that me asking you if you saw something, and you respond that your about to pass out, I'm wondering how you jumped from me asking you if you saw something to you telling me that your bored, over."

"Why are we even having this… hold on, I think I see something, over."

"What, over?"

"It…looks like a parachute, off that cliff face to the south, over."

"As in, a parachute in progress, over?"

"No, it's hanging on to a branch on the side of the cliff for dear life. Of course it's in progress, over."

"Okay, no need to get all worked up. I'll signal to send a recon team out there, figure out what's going on, over."

"Roger that, over."

"Okay, I'm signaling now, ove-" A cord of wire wrapped itself around his neck and tightened.

"Hey. Hey man, you okay? You sound like your choking on something. You alright? Acknowledge this transmission, man, you're starting to scare me."

There was a sound resembling a thud, then a twisting-metal-on-metal sound.

"Come on man. If this is some kind of joke, it's not funny. Respond! I'm serio-"

A hole appeared in his head, as the window to his left was spattered with red.

"Recon Team 2 to Tower 3, come in. Tower 3, this is Recon Team 2, respond."

"Getting anything?"

"Nah. Willis is probably sleeping up there again."

"While we have to hoof it to the bottom of a cliff and shoot the legs out from under whoever decided to parachute off of said cliff."

"Gotta try and get Tower duty one of these days."

The chute, and the person in it, fell heavily to the ground.

"Oh, good lord."

"What?"

"Look who's in that chute."

"It looks like…oh hell. It's David, beach patrol."

"Jesus, what did that to his head?"

"Wait-a-minute. Check the pack."

"What? Why?"

"Check the pack. Now!"

A thumb descended onto the button of a detonator.

There was an enormous explosion.

With that, Snake Eyes had bought himself the distraction he needed. Running to the ladder opposite the tower, he climbed up onto the facility's roof. Carefully making his way across, he looked down to see two guards standing on the balcony below him. He pulled a miniature crossbow from his belt, cocked it, and took aim.

"Think we should go help out?"

"They don't need us. Besides, someone's gotta guard this balcony, right?"

"Yeah, cause this balcony is vital to our success."

"So, you want to go running off in the direction of the huge explosion?"

"No, but-"

"Then don't complain."

"Yeah, but, we could be something besides just standing her-" He reached around and grabbed at the back of his neck.

"Hey, what's the matter?" He turned and saw something out of the corner of his eye, a dark shadow shaped like a man, a glistening blade of moonlight in its right hand. The blade was coming right at his head.

Snake Eyes used the body of the guard to brace his legs against the fall. Stopping to pull his sword out of the man's head, and to give the crossbow victim a quick neck twist, he opened the door leading into the complex. Eyeing a vent shaft immediately above him, he reached up, pulled off the cover with his sword, and leapt into the vent, the cover following him back into its proper place.

After ten minutes of crawling through the vents, Snake Eyes punched one out of place, and dropped down into the room beneath him. It was a large room, the walls made of stainless steel. At the back of the room, a hospital bed. Occupying it was a woman, her face oddly peaceful, her hair pulled back in a ponytail. Three IV drips were connected to her.

"Took you long enough to get here." A voice called from behind.

Snake Eyes whirled around, drawing his sword, and was faced with the masked visage of Cobra Commander.

**Things are about to get real, and not in the way you probably expect them to.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Note: This is going to be violent. There are going to be broken bones, cracked ribs, bent tendons, hemorrhaged diaphragms, dislocated jaws, punctured lungs, sword cuts, sword fights, and incredibly deadly poisons. I do not own G.I. Joe.**

Any Price

Chapter 4

"I've been waiting here for hours. How far away from the island did you jump out of that transport?"

Snake Eyes shifted onto his right foot, preparing himself for a battle, but his surprise showed.

"Don't act so surprised, Snake Eyes. I knew, all along. I planned on you doing exactly what you've done tonight, and you did not disappoint."

He clapped his hands a few times.

Snake Eyes backed up, moving towards Scarlet's unconscious form.

"If I were you, I wouldn't get much closer to her." Cobra Commander said, holding up his left hand, showing the remote clutched in his fist.

"Your lady there is connected to three IV drips. One is the standard nutrimental chemicals. The second contains a mild sedative, just enough to put her under or keep her from causing trouble if we ever needed to ask her questions. It is, however, weak enough that she'd regain consciousness but remain immobile if the dosage decreased. The final one contains, well, I guess you might call it something of an insurance policy against you. The final drip contains venom, from the Brazilian Wandering Spider to be exact. If a few centileters get into her blood stream, she'll die, slowly and painfully, as she gradually becomes paralyzed, as her lungs shut down, until finally her heart stops beating. Now, that is exactly what will happen if you move any closer to her, or if you attack me without hearing what I have to say."

Snake Eyes stopped moving, and sheathed his sword.

"There now, see how easy it is to be civil? Now, I have a proposition for you, Snake Eyes. You've done well, extremely well, to make it this far into the facility. You've demonstrated considerable initiative. Given that, by coming here, you have knowingly risked the possibility of a nuclear attack on a random continent, I can assume that you'll hardly be welcomed back to America or your unit with open arms. Considering this, I propose an alliance between my organization and yourself. An old friend of yours already operates in a similar manner. You know you've nowhere to go now. Not after what you've risked to get here. Join me, and all that you desire will be yours."

Snake Eyes turned, looked at Scarlet, then drew his sword, and faced Cobra Commander.

Cobra Commander's hand clicked on the buttons on the remote. Scarlet's eyes flickered open.

"Let her witness that I tried." Cobra Commander said, pulling his own sword from the scabbard on his belt.

Snake Eyes charged him, swinging his blade viciously at him. Cobra Commander caught the strike on the edge of his sword, and whirled around Snake Eyes, bringing his sword around in a wide, sweeping slash, leaving a deep cut on Snake Eyes' back.

"You Joes. For years, you've underestimated me. Always assuming that I have lacked the courage to face you man-to-man. I simply have a policy about getting my hands dirty directly. About actually fighting. I only fight someone when I really want to kill them myself, or if I expect they'll offer a reasonable challenge. You, Snake Eyes, fit both criteria."

With that, he thrust his sword at Snake Eyes with astonishing speed, slipping the blade underneath his guard and driving the point into his midsection. He quickly pulled it out, but not quick enough, as Snake Eyes swung at Cobra Commander's wrist. Turning his arm to catch the strike on the hilt of his sword, Cobra Commander realized too late that he had done just what Snake Eyes wanted him to do.

Snake Eyes' blade hit the hilt of Cobra Commander's sword and knocked the weapon out of his hand, sending it clear across the room. Snake Eyes followed up with a thrust aimed at Cobra Commander's throat, but the Commander simply sidestepped it, grabbed the blade, and pulled. Yanking Snake Eyes toward him, he delivered a fierce uppercut to Snake Eyes' jaw, followed by a haymaker to the side of his head, and a light kick to his diaphragm. Turning, Cobra Commander hurled the relinquished blade into the far wall, then turned to face Snake Eyes.

"Ahhh. Now things will get interesting. A pure, old-fashioned fist-fight. The way man was meant to battle."

Snake Eyes charged at Cobra Commander again, throwing a vicious jab at his head. The Commander ducked it, and responded with a powerful punch to Snake Eyes' ribs. He felt at least one crack under the impact of his fist.

Snake Eyes whirled away, spinning in a circle to come around and deliver a kick to Cobra Commander's neck.

Cobra Commander simply grabbed Snake Eyes' leg, then brought his elbow down just below the kneecap, onto the tendon, bending it out of place. Tossing the flopping appendage up, he twisted and kicked Snake Eyes in the chest, launching him into the wall behind him. Snake Eyes crumpled to the floor, grasping his leg.

'Don't tell me you're giving up already? That was nothing, Snake Eyes. To be honest, I'm a little disappointed. I expected more. Tell you what, I'll make this simple."

He pulled out the remote again.

"Hit me. Once. You have ten minutes. After that, the third drip opens."

Snake Eyes grabbed his lower leg, and yanked on it, popping the tendon back to its proper position.

He glanced at his sword, embedded in the far left wall. He reached behind, and brushed the grip of his pulse uzi. He looked at Scarlet, lying in the bed, eyes wide, immobilized by chemicals.

He ran to his sword, drawing his uzi from its holster as he ran. He threw it, high and long, then grabbed his sword, yanked it out of the wall, and hurled it in a sideways arc.

The sword spun as it flew across the room, slicing through the IV lines.

The uzi landed directly in Scarlet's right hand.

Snake Eyes leaped towards Cobra Commander, flipping in mid-air.

Scarlet leveled the sight of the uzi at Cobra Commander and pulled the trigger.

Pulse rounds slammed into Cobra Commander's torso, a few skidding off of his helmet. He bore the fire for about two seconds, when Snake Eyes dropped his heel on the back of Cobra Commander's neck.

Cobra Commander dropped to the ground.

Snake Eyes limped towards Scarlet.

"Is that you, Snake Eyes?" Scarlet asked.

He nodded.

She ran at him and threw her arms around him.

They held each other for s second, then Snake Eyes recoiled and dropped to his good knee as her hand brushed the wound on his back.

"Oh, I'm sorry.'

He shook his head.

"Shit. That looks bad. And I know that's not the worst thing he did. We need to get out of here, now. Come on.'

She reached down, grabbed his arm, and hauled him up.

**Well. Even I didn't quite expect some of that. I always intended for CC to beat the crap out of Snake Eyes, but I think I might've gone a little overboard. I think the nice little hug between Scarlet and Snake Eyes makes up for it though. Be aware, this is not the last chapter. They still have to escape, and Snake Eyes is still gonna have some explaining to do when they get back to HQ. Also be aware that I'm in a summer camp for the rest of the week, so the next one will not be up( or probably even worked on) for a while.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Note: In the home stretch now. Just got to get off an island with a sword, a single gun, and two people who both could be in much better physical shape. This is going to be primarily from Scarlet's perspective, with good old SE jumping in near the end. I do not own G.I. Joe.**

Any Price

Chapter 5

"Okay. Come on. You got in here no problem. You can get out. Come on."

Scarlet urged Snake Eyes on. She was worried. Very worried. She'd never seem him get beaten so badly. Even in some of the more violent clashes with Storm Shadow, he'd never been so out of it afterwards. She wasn't sure what to do, other than try and get him out before they were discovered.

She walked him down a long hall, holding him up with one of his arms draped over her, his uzi in her other hand, at the ready.

Surprisingly, they didn't encounter any guards. When they reached a large courtyard at the front of the facility, she lowered Snake Eyes against a wall, and paused to think. How were they going to get out of this one? Snake Eyes must have come in something, but he didn't seem to have any way of getting back on it. Then, she saw him pull something out of his belt. He pointed it up, and fired a flare.

"You do realize that every guard on the island is going to come running to this spot now, right?" She asked him. He simply titled his head toward the ground. She got the feeling that if he could speak, he'd be struggling to not scream in pain. Then, he pointed up.

A cable dropped down in front of them.

Snake Eyes got up, and walked to the cable. He pulled out a cord with a clip-hook at the end. He wrapped the cord around the cable a few times, then latched the clip-hook onto the cable. He tugged on the cable a few times. He held out his hand, and Scarlet took it.

Suddenly, they were being yanked up into the sky, pulled into some sort of ship by an automated winch.

When Snake Eyes looked up, he vision was filled with the barrel of a rifle.

"You really expected us to just sit on our butts while you get a country blown off the map?" Duke said.

"Damnit, Duke. Put the gun down. He's seriously hurt." Scarlet said angrily.

"He nearly-"

"I don't care what he did to get here. He saved my life."

Snake Eyes reached to a miniature keyboard on his arm. He tapped in a series of commands.

"What did you just do?" Duke asked him.

The back of the craft they were in opened up. Snake eyes stood up and motioned to Duke and Scarlet to follow him.

Suddenly, an alarm began screeching.

"Crap. Missile lock." Duke said.

Snake Eyes shoulder-charged him and Scarlet off of the ramp, into open air.

Then, right beneath them, the Falcon swooped in and they landed on its extended back ramp.

Duke ran to the cockpit.

Snake Eyes jumped.

He had nearly cleared the distance when the Aurora exploded above him, struck by anti-air missiles. The blast threw him against the ramp and he quickly started sliding off, grabbing at it and finding no purchase.

A hand slammed down on his wrist, stopping his fall.

"I gotcha!" Scarlet said, pulling him into the Falcon.

She walked him to an emergency medical cot on the side of the ship. He held her hand in both of his a second too long, then passed out.

**Just one more chapter left. There are going to be some words and silent explaining to do.**


End file.
